A public health problem

Another report has come out today in The Australian about the state of the teenage drinking problems we have here in Australia. Levels of dangerous drinking are higher than previously thought. 1 in 5 16 and 17 year olds binge drink weekly.

It's a really interesting predicament with a complex and layered causal effect.
A link which is not discussed often, but which has been observed by paramedics and youth workers, is the changing nature of the 'alcohol environment'. In just the last 5 years, young people have moved away from drinking beer and wine and now drink spirits and mixers, particularly alcopops - premixed in bottles or cans. These are highly alcoholic yet don't taste like alcohol.

With the higher alcohol content in these products young people get drunk more quickly. They are also more likely to become violent as they end up highly intoxicated yet have consumed less overall liquid and so are not 'weighed down' by the quantity they have consumed.

One wonders - particularly with the marketing campaigns targeting youth drinkers - whether these products should be the subject of conversation.

Community

We have our young adults formal soon and It's got me thinking about the power of community.

There is something about the 'one another' that is almost indefinable yet infinitely important.
Simply put - we need each other.
And we really need each other as part of the community of faith.
While we like to think we'll be fine by ourselves, separation from fellow journeyers in the Kingsom leads to a slow death - almost imperceptible as it occurs, but occurring nonetheless.
Such interdependency is the ultimate antidote to pride and the greatest challenge to individualism.

Life is ultimately also way more fun when traveled in the company of others!

Tagged from James Mac

So James just tagged me - I have to get the nearest book, turn to page 123 and reprise the sixth, seventh and eighth sentence.

Here we go!

Bonhoeffer's consecrated life is a model for us all - a total giving of self to Christ. Most of us will not be tested in this way, but he has set the standard for us. Now, of course, this consecration doesn't happen all at once - "The Faith" Charles Colson

Brilliant stuff!

From lifechurch.tv

Inspiration from Starbucks

Sitting in the airport, beginning the 5 hour wait till boarding...
So we're in Starbucks getting a coffee and they have all these quote on their cups. I really like this one from Newt Gingrich, Former Speaker of the House of Representatives - it's worth blogging.

"On the battlefield of ideas, winning requires moving toward the sound of the guns."

Mark Mittleberg

We have a crisis of faith. It's not that people have faith - they have many faiths - but they don't know how to think about
faith.

How people process and evaluate faiths determines how they choose.

6 Faith Paths
1. Relativistic faith path
Where most people are.
Something becomes true because they believe it. ..... So at the same time, God does exist for a Christian yet doesn't exist
because of an athiest?

However, truth is simply what is.
The key to life is to discover what is true and then to adjust your life accordingly.

2. The traditional path
I have always believed this - a hand me down faith

3. Authoritative path
You better believe this.
Authorities are only as good as their credentials

4. The intuitive faith path
I can just feel it....

5. The mystic faith path
"God told me" what is true

6. The evidentiary faith path
Is there evidence to this system of thought being correct?

Ben Stein

We break faith with those who died for freedom when we give up free speech in science, value of life, etc

Rethinking the importance of creation and evolution

Evolution is a theory, yet if you question it in academia, it is like questioning Stalin in 1925.

What are the social and economic implications for society of darwinism? Man = mud. You can do with him or to him what you
want.
The belief in creation says God created, so people have a spark of the divine within them - therefore, when you kill them you
are attacking God.

Bill Butterworth

Rethinking balance

The first key to being an effective leader is being not dead!
Avoid burnout.

Who would applaud someone who only ran 3/4 of their race?

3 aspects:
Attention (tasks)
Connection (relationships)
Reflection (how was today?)

George Barna

Rethinking why we become who we become

You can only make a genuine difference when you help transform a life.

America is culturally crippled by an addiction we deny having. Media exposure has become America's most widespread and
serious addiction today. Of the most dominant influencers in the USA today, 5 of the 7 are media.

Addictions
: they change our brain function
: they cause withdrawal symptoms
: we lose control of how much exposure we have
: we have a desire to reduce it but we are unable to
: it causes us to abandon or reduce our involvement in normal, heathy social activities
: the denial of an addiction

4 things
1. Recognise you cannot fix a problem that is not on the radar
2. Ask - What is our view about media?
3. Address the issue of parental responsibility
4. Can we raise up a new class of missionaries to the media world?

Ben Vereen

Rethinkers
Rosa Parks - because she sat down, a nation stood up.

Dr Ben Carson

Rethinking risk
The vast majority of people do not achieve a lot because they are afraid of risk.
Others do not achieve much because they take an inordinate amount of risks without analysing them.

Historically, pinnacle nations become enamoured with sports, entertainment, celebrity, lose their moral compass and then fall in power.

Rethink our passivity
We have as much, or more, evidence for God than those who try to extract God from public life.

For a country to remain great
T.H.I.N.K. B.I.G.
Talent (intellectual)
Honesty
Insight
Nice
Knowledge

Books
Indepth learning - to understand
God

It really doesn't matter where you are, it's where you are going that counts. You get there by aligning yourself with God.

Google Carsons Scholar Fund

Erwin McManus

The weaving together of tragedy and beauty.

Humans are meaning machines - we add meaning to everything.

Sometimes we make the meaningless meaningful - superstition

Sometimes we make the meaningful meaningless.

Sometimes we can't make sense of the mess, and we must simply know that there is a master artist at work.

Lee Strobel

Rethinking the evangelism effort of the American church

It requires 2 things: truth and experience

1. Truth
Spreading the gospel must always be grounded in the absolute truth of the christian message.

We have a defensible faith.
We have an unfair advantage in the marketplace of ideas - we have truth on our side.

Debate has a place but mostly dialogue is more effective than debate.
We do not begin dialogue by assuming the equality of all truth claims, but by the equality of all persons.

How do we facilitate this? Seeker small groups and using stories.

2. We must usher people into an experience with God.
Blaise Pascal - the night of fire.

There must be a connection between truth and experience.

Rupert Murdoch

His two most important qualities which have contributed to his success-
: Persistence
: Curiousity

Why they bought Myspace -
: to lead through it
: to help people express themselves
: to learn from it

In response to a question regarding the future of newspapers, Murdoch said they may not exist on paper but will exist as journalistic enterprise to deliver news: "If you have done your job right, people will come to you because they rely on you".

Encourage innovation

Larry King

Engaging with people
How do you ask a great question?
1. Be curious
2. Leave yourself out of the question
3. If you start with 'why' it can't be answered in one word.
4. Listen, listen, listen

Jason Illian (God tube)

Tradigital thinking - endless interconnections between things that are seemingly unrelated

It's no longer about getting people's time or attention - it's about getting people's hearts.

Tomorrows leaders will be meaning makers.
People are tired of chasing cool.

Don't chase cool - infuse meaning.
This generation is willing to leave their job, parents, country to find meaning.

How do we infuse meaning? Reinvent FIRE
Ferocious
Imaginations that
Revolutionise
Everything

We must push responsibility to those on the outer edges.
Break habitual cycles - do something creative

The power of inconsistency!
If inconsistent- can't be predicted
If unpredictable- can't be duplicated
If can't be duplicated-it is valuable
Jesus was inconsistent.

Phil Cooke

Rethinking media

It's all about influence and how we use media to impact culture.
Why branding?
1. Perception matters: if you don't control your perception in the community, you will be at the mercy of others who will
2. Choice : so many options

Branding is the compelling story surrounding you and your organisation. In a media rich world, we need an easy handle.

1. Visibility is as important as ability : visibility=voice
2. You can't brand a lie- we need to live more transparent lives than ever
3. Being different is everything

Questions to ask when working out branding
1. What's the point? Why do you do this?
2. Who are you?
3. Skills/ talents
4. What makes you different?

What can we do right now?
1. Understand the power of a name - your name matters
2. Put a lot of effort into logo and look - design matters
3. Be careful with humour
4. What is the overarching theme of your life and ministry?

Dr Stephen Post

Giving creates a sense of abundance in your own heart.
If you want to get somewhere, hostility won't get you there.

Study
High hostility - 20% death rate over 20 years
Low hostility - 2% death rate

When evil men plot, good men must plan - Martin Luther King Jnr

Dr John Townsend

Rethinking love

To the extent that we love is the extent to which we will bear good fruit as a leader

3 aspects of love as a leader
1.You must love what you do - enough to inspire others
2. Love people outside of their work
3. Love people enough to push them

Nancy Ortberg

1. The most difficult person to lead is yourself
Figure out how you connect deeply to God.
Jesus didn't journal :)
What restores the wonder of God in you?

2. Vision is created by the stories ee tell and the heroes we create.

3. Defining God moments are only as significant as the lifestyle they produce. Get it into the rhythm of your life.

4. Teamwork is a strategy not a slogan.
Our job is not to get involved in artificial harmony but to debate and make decisions

5. Stop being surprised that leadership is difficult.
Max Dupree - leaders are only right 50% of the time - this allows resilience...